IN TIMES OF DISAPPOINTMENT 

ROM. 8:17-18

     I wish to speak to you today on the subject "IN TIMES OF DISAPPOINTMENT".  Romans 8:17-18 and other scriptures in the Bible clearly show us that as Christians we should expect to suffer.  II Timothy 3:12 tells us that "all who will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.  Jesus even warned his disciples saying in John 16:33 "In this world you shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.  So as Christians we should expect to have some disappointments in life.  But in actuality we often expect just the opposite.  We rarely if ever are prepared for disappointments and in fact if a disappointing event occurs in our lives our first response is to either question God's faithfulness on our behalf or to question our righteousness in the sight of God.

     Our reactions to disappointment often become even worse when we feel that we have been doing all that we know to do to serve God; when we have be fasting and praying, reading and studying our Bible, obeying and praising God.  When we are doing all we know to do and yet suffering come our way, it is sometime all we can do to hold on to God and if the truth were to be told many of us would admit that it feels more like God is holding on to us.

     The Bible character that we are to look at in today's message is Elijah. 

I KINGS 17:1-7 

     The king that was ruling in Israel during the time of Elijah was Ahab and Ahab was more wicked than all the kings that had ever ruled. For since the time of David and Solomon the people had become more and more wicked and now they had king Ahab who had married a heathen woman, Jezebel.  Jezebel was from a wicked family and a people who worshipped the sun-god baal.  She dominated her husband and force the worship of baal to the worse limits; persecuting and killing all who refused to serve baal and continued to follow God.

Ahab's court was flooded with hundreds of baal worshippers and he himself did service to baal also.

     In the midst of this, in pops Elijah.  We are not told much about Elijah.  We are not told who anointed him as prophet, how long he was a prophet, how old he was or anything about is family or his history.  Elijah enters by announcing to Ahab the coming of a three year drought.  And as quickly as he had come on the scene the Lord orders him to leave.  So for a period of time we find Elijah sitting by a brook being nourished by God's creation, while Ahab and the remaining citizens of Israel suffered through a drought. 

I KINGS 17:8-24 

  As the drought continues God send Elijah to the house of a widow with a child.  While there God blessed the widow and met her need for food as well as provided  healing for her son through Elijah.  Because we live in a wicked world, Christians also must endure the hardships brought upon the world by sin.  Christians are affected by drought, by earthquakes by war, and by the sin-filled hearts of other men.  But in God's provision for the widow we should see His provision for us.  But we should also remember that Elijah did not go to everyone's house.  Yes there were others who still followed after God, and they too were affected by the drought just as Ahab and the followers of baal.  Simply because we live on a cursed planet, hardships and disappointments will come.  Romans 8:22 teaches us that all creation groans in agony awaiting the coming of Christ.  So we will suffer simply because of the condition of our world.  But even in our suffering God is still faithful.  He is still just and His love for use is evident in His continued provision. 

I KINGS 18:1-2, 17-24 

     When the three years were up God instructed Elijah to go and find Ahab.  Now Ahab had been looking for Elijah all this time for he felt that Elijah was the cause of this great drought.  Ahab still did not see that the sin of Israel had brought a curse upon the land.  So rather than look at his own error he sought Elijah to make him a scapegoat.  Some times the condition that we are in is our own fault.  We can not and should not look for others to blame for our own mistakes and sins.  We must be willing to accept responsibility for our own mistakes.  And there is no need to spiritualize everything.  Sure the Devil tempts us and tries to influence our lives, but we make choices and many times we know that we are making a choice.  We are responsible for the choices we make.

     Though Ahab sought to blame the prophet, Elijah immediately rebuked him and pointed to Ahab’s sin as the cause of the problem.  Though Elijah was talking to a man of power and authority, he still called sin, sin and called for the people and the king to choose whom they were going to serve.

   The people of Israel had the same problem as many today.  They were caught between serving a God they could not see or touch but who they knew to be a deliverer, and serving a God they could see and touch but who had no power.  Many still have a problem with following God simply in faith.  Man wants to see and so he is easily distracted and often allows that which he can know with his senses to become his God.  But God told the Children of Israel that He would have no other God before Him and He says to us that we are to love Him with all of our heart, mind, soul, and will.  That means we are to love Him more than we love ourselves.  His will is to supersede ours. 

I KINGS 18:25-46 

     Realizing that the people were set on following baal, Elijah challenged the prophets of baal to a face off.  Sometimes we are just like the prophets of baal.  We see that the path we have taken is not getting us the desired outcome yet we continue on down the road.  We keep hoping that thing will change when we see that God is not in our decision and that he is not supporting our action.  We even go to the limit of asking God to help us get into a bigger mess than we are already in.  We go after our own desires even if it leads us to spiritual death.  The prophets of baal tried to make a god who could not hear answer.  We cry unto God and try not to hear the answer.

     So Elijah challenges the prophets of baal and of course baal can not meet the challenge, when as usual God goes over and beyond the call of duty.  The people proclaim that the Lord is God, and Elijah has all the prophets of baal killed.  Now Ahab is present at this show down, so that he sees the inabilities of baal and the power of God.  Now that the people see their error, Elijah announces the coming rains and sends Ahab home.

     Under the anointing of God Elijah out runs Ahab's chariot all the way back to Jezreel, some 20 miles.  This was to show honor for the king.  It was customary to honor a king by running before his chariot. 

I KINGS 19:1-8 

When Elijah got the message from Jezebel he was crushed.  In all he had done to prove God's greatness he still had to face Jezebel alone.  For Ahab was still powerless against her and there was no-one it seem who would stand with him.  He had done as God had requested and now he was alone and threatened with death.  In his despair and disappointment he ran and soon found himself sitting under a tree praying for death.  There are times when we too are so disappointed and disillusioned that we pray for deliverance from this world.  We long to be where we know there is nothing but peace and joy.  We long to be with God and away from this made world in which we live.  We feel that we can not take another disappointment  and the unfairness of it all takes it's told on us.  But God never promised us life would be fair.  We have an enemy who has no concept of fair play.  He is out to win at all cost.  His task is impossible.  For he must beat God.  But he can not give up.  He must fight with every trick and lie that he can.  We are therefore to focus not on what we can see or feel, but to focus on who we serve.  We are to keep our hearts and mind focused on God, trusting in him so that we can maintain our peace in a world that is filled with turmoil.

     In our moments of despair and disappointment, when we feel that there is no one there, God is still there to meet our needs.  Elijah was hurt.  What he needed right then was comfort not a rebuke.  He needed God's care.  So again God nourished him and strengthened him for the journey he was determined to make.  In our disappointment we too must recognize that God is still there to meet our needs.          

     Now where was Elijah going.  He was going to Mt Horeb.

Mount Horeb and mount Sinai are the same place.  Elijah was running to God.  However in his emotional state he failed to recognize that God was at Carmel.  He was at Beersheba.  He was with Elijah where ever he went.  Like Elijah, when we are in the midst of a disappointment or a discouraging time we are often too emotional to hear God.  We must retreat.  Remove ourselves from the turmoil so that we can calm down enough to hear.  Elijah was running to God.  But God could have talked to him right where he fed him at.  But Elijah needed to heal.  He needed the time.  So God allowed him to run to a place of comfort.  Mount Horeb is the place where the Children of Israel received the word of God.  We too in times of disappointment should run to God for comfort.  We should run to Him in prayer to maintain our peace and run to His word for comfort and instruction. 

I KINGS 19:9-16 

Who was chasing Elijah? Jezebel, not all the children of Israel.  Whenever we are in the midst of a trial or a hardship the devil always tries to blow things out of proportion.  He makes the problem seem bigger than life in the hopes that it will seem bigger than God.  However, it does not matter what we are confronted with; there is no problem that we can ever have that is bigger than God.  For God himself declares in Jerm. 32:27 "is there anything to hard for me".

    When God finally did address Elijah, He didn't come roaring on the scene making a big noise.  Nor did he come declaring what he would do to Jezebel.  He came and gave Elijah instruction of his next mission as if to say this matter is closed Elijah. We have no need to discuss it further.  Elijah was upset because he was counting on Ahab and the Children of Israel and because he feared Jezebel.  He had gone over 200 miles to meet with God only to hear him say go back and anoint new leaders.  Jezebel was no concern to God and neither was her threat.  God still had work for Elijah to do.  God had allowed him time to heal and now it was time to receive instruction and go back to work.

God did not make a big deal out of his disappointment.  He did not blow it out of proportion or make a major issue of it.  That is how we handle disappointment.

      God recognizes that we will have many hardships and disappointments in this life.  For they are the result of a cursed planet.  As we face the disappointing times we must

1.  remember that God is still there to meet our needs.

2.  run to God in pray and praise and to His word for comfort.

3.  listen for God's direction.

4.  don't allow the disappointment to be blown out of proportion.  Keep our focus and CONSIDER THAT THE SUFFERINGS OF THIS PRESENT TIME ARE NOT WORTHY TO BE COMPARED WITH THE GLORY THAT SHALL BE REVEALED IN US.